Support for shirt collars



Dec. 26, 1933. J. J. OSHEA 1,941,185

SUPPORT FOR SHIRT COLLARS Filed Jan. 26, 1935 'rlttowwua Patented Dec. 26, 1933 VNI'TEPI'J'STATES PATENTadF Y This invention relates toimprovements in supports for collars of shirts and particularly to collars permanently attached to shirts. Y

It is a matter of' common knowledge that'it is the practice of laundries to place identifying data onall shirts handled by themand that such data is almost universally placed on the inner surface of the rear portion of the 'r'ieck -band or of-the attached collar. It is also the practice of a great many laundries to place in a laundered shirt some means of support for the ,collar of collar-attached shirts but, due to the practice of marking the shirts on the inner surface of the collar, it has heretofore been deemed neces- 16 sary to leave that portion of the collar bearing the marking unsupported, in order that the person sorting the shirts for delivery may readily note the identifying matter to ascertain the owner of each shirt. In other words, if the portion 0 of the collar bearing the identifying matter is covered, or that matter concealed by the supporting means, the time element involved in ascertaining the owners of any large number of shirts would be too great for commercial purposes. Therefore, it has generally been found necessary to make collar supports of a design which is not only more or less expensive, but which also fails to support or protect a comparatively largepor tion of the circumference of the collar.

of my invention is to provide a shirt collar support of inexpensive design that will lend support and protection to substantially the entire collar, and which will permit the identifying matter on the inner surface of the collars to be read with the greatest of ease- With these and other objects in view, the present invention consists of certain novel details of construction, and combinations and arrange- 40 ments of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, and the novel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, I Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper portion of a collar-attached shirt with the preferred form ofmy collar support applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the collar and shirt, this view being taken lengthwise of the shirt;

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the supporting band before placement in the shirt collar;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the ends of the support; and

With these facts in mind, the primary object "Fig. '6 is a plan -'view of the support before being formed into-a-band.

The shirt'10 illustrated isof the collar-attached type" and in this style shirt the collar 11 is usually soft, so that it must be supported or. V

protected against'being crushed or rumpled when placed in a package for" delivery. As previously stated, it is the general practice to place identifying matter on :the' interior of 'the collar as shown at 12.

In order to give maximum protection or support to the collar without concealing this identifying matter, the present supporting member is adapted to be formed into a band of greater circumference than the collar, so that when it is placed 'in the collar, it will contact with and support the major portion of the collar, but for a portion of the circumference of the collar, it will be bulged oroffset therefrom, to expose the identifying matter.

As shown in Fig. 6, the present support is formed from an elongated strip 13 of heavy'paper board, or other suitable material, the primary requirement being that it must be capable of flexing and-still be su fliciently stiff to afford the collar the desired'support. The strip113 is formed with a tonguel at one ,end and with a slot 15 adjacent the opposite end. The tongue and slot are, of course, narrower than the strip so that; shoulders 16 are formed at the point where the tongue merges into the strip. In applying one of the present supports to a collar, the strip is formed into a band as shown in Fig. 4, by inserting tongue 14 in slot 15. The length of the strip from the slot 15 to shoulders 16 is such that when the band is formed, theshoulders limit the movement of the tongue into the slot at a point where the band willbe larger in circumference:

than the largest necksize of shirt to which it is to be applied. As a result, when the band is placed in the collar, it will, of necessity, bulge or how radially inward, as at 17. The operator, in placing the band within can control this bowing action to cause it to occur at the portion of the collar bearing the identifying matter as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. If desired, the band can be formed with a score line or line of weakness, as at 18, to augment this bowing action and by the operator placing this line in registry with the identifying matter, bowing of the band at the desired point is insured. In this manner, the major portion of the'collar is properly supported and the identifying matter stillfully necting elements used for attaching the bands need possess only that characteristic of preventing the band formed from the strip contracting or, in other words, the connecting means must be capable of maintaining the circumference of the band so that it will be greater than the circumference of the collar to be supported. It is immaterial whether or not the band is capable of expanding, because the larger :the band is with {respect tov the ucbllar the. greater it will bulge and expose the inner surface of the collar.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a support;

for the collars of shirts, consisting of a. strip of comparatively heavy paper board, 'one end "of' said strip having a slot therein, agtongue atythe band being offset from the interior surface of the collar to expose laundry marks on said surface.

3. The combination of a shirt collar and a band of flexible material of sufficient stiffness to support said collar, said band consisting of a strip of said flexible material having a slot in one end thereof in which the opposite end of said strip engages :to form :said band, saidbandhaving a larger circumference than thecollar and a portion of said band being ofiset from the interior surfaceof the collar to expose laundry marks ,on said surface, the ends of said strip being interlocked to prevent diminution of the circumference of-theband.

The combination of a shirt collar and a band of flexible material .of sufficient stiffness to =support *said -cellar, said band being formed -of .a .strip 0f flexible material having its ends connected together, said connected ends being securely :held {against relative :circumferen'tial Contracting :movement to prevent reduction of the circumference of the :band below a -predetermined minimum, the :minimum circumference of 'saidrband :b'eing greater'fthan the circumference of the collar. and a portion ofsaid band being ofiset from the interior surface of the :collar to expose laundry marks on said surface.

JAMES J OisHEA.

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